Comment on a Proposal to Make Corporations Democratic

See http://fraughtwithperil.com/cholte/2010/06/25/proper-corporatism/ for context.

There was also a time in America in the 19th century when Joint Stock Companies were seen as an exciting means of implementing communal utopias like Brooke Farm and Oneida.

[The all important "So what?" question]
One question I have is what is the next step beyond saying "if this happenned, it would be an improvement", or a more strongly worded "this needs to happen"? I am beginning to think that collective action aimed at reform might be usefully imitate the structure of the scientific community. The problem is bridging the gap between the present state and the vision of (1) in the one case, perfect understanding of the universe, or (2) perfecting the social order. Prior to the Enlightenment, there was a plethora of speculative philosophical systems which tried to be "theories of everything" (a phrase that I think expresses the drive behind even the most 'primitive' religions).

He talks a lot about the "Social Corporation" which is neither the traditional "nonprofit" nor "for profit" enterprise. There is no very good legal framework for it, so he is putting forth a template for the consideration of governments. He sees no reason why such corporations, while explicitly *not* having maximization of profits as prime directive cannot make sufficient profits to grow without the need of continual infusions of charity money. I think what he'd really like is the ability for a corporation to have a *legally defined purpose* such as "to improve health outcomes (more specifically defined of course)
by X% in the areas in which they operate within such and such a time frame, with profit and growth being perhaps the goal *once that is accomplished*. He thinks they can go head to head with traditional corporations, like maybe a certain amount of good will and some vibrant quality that such an enterprise might have, might offset failure to follow what today are considered "best practices" for maximizing profits. Yunnus has been working at this (not just micro-lending but a broad array of enterprises) for over 30 years, and his enterprises are now certainly on the scale of billions of dollars.

I think there is immense potential in that, whereas I can't imagine an attempt to change the rules of corporations IN GENERAL any time in the forseeable future.